The 34th Of October

Thirty-one days hath January, March, May, July, August, and December. October used to also, but I've since decided otherwise. Maybe at this point you think I'm nuts? Let me explain.

The book of Proverbs has thirty-one chapters. My pastor challenged us to read "the proverb of the day" back in April, a chapter corresponding to the date each day and then repeat the book once the month rolls over. This I have been doing since then, but I wasn't quite satisfied with only a proverb of the day. The Psalms are also full of wisdom and inspiration but clearly not laid out for such a challenge.

I strained my brain for some time, trying to figure out how to make the largest book of the Bible fit into a calendarized reading plan. I thought about reading five chapters in the book each day but quickly reminded myself I'm not a marathon reader. Maybe I could read two and a half chapters each day and repeat the cycle every two months instead of one. But then I remembered it's best to read the Bible in complete thoughts, that the numbers assigned to chapters and verses were added by humans. Reading two and a half chapters just wouldn't work.

Then on October 1st, I realized it wasn't the Bible that needed to be altered to fit my desired schedule but my calendar. So October now has 150 days in it and today, previously known as November 3, is the 34th of October.

I have a feeling several months will be pushed back or perhaps obliterated all together, but I'm not planning to move or do away with any holidays. Christmas will just be on October 86th. And the longest day of the month will definitely be the 119th because God is quite verbose in that psalm.

I'm looking forward to reading a psalm and a proverb each day. But the rest of the world will just have to special order new calendars from me if they want to change too. Happy reading!